Powers
by K-promises-fall
Summary: A series of AU oneshots based on Shiznat with superhuman abilities. Crosses over with various universes.
1. Mutants I

**Mutants**

**By: **_K-promises-fall_

Disclaimer: I do not claim to own Mai Hime in any way.

* * *

It wasn't exactly the best job in the world.

The air was stuffy, the scenery was depressing, the patrons were either loud and... unpleasant or quiet and brooding, and the pay... She had earned more money simply watching her neighbour's pets. This job was wholly undesirable, especially for a beautiful 22 year old who would, without trying, turn many heads and garner many smiles.

It would not matter that she was covered from head to toe in dark, unsavoury tones, or that she kept the hood of her jacket up at nearly all times – her job being the only exception. It didn't matter that the colours of her clothes were washed out and that the seems of her jeans were fraying from dragging along the ground or that her sneakers were dirty and scratched from untold adventures. No, it didn't seem to matter at all. Wherever she went she was remembered, and that was not the best thing when the entire world was ready to hunt her kind.

But we have drifted from the subject at hand.

Her job, decidedly temporary due not only to its unpleasantness, but by fate itself – fate which loved to repeat itself with her life – was a bad and dangerous one.

She opened the small slit in the wall of the kitchen to peer into the diner. The drunken group of six was still there, regrettably. Their half eaten meals lay forgotten as they laughed and made crude jokes, and Shizuru could not help but narrow her eyes at them.

"They prob'ly ain't goin' t' pay."

Startled, she turned to look at her only company at this dark hour. The night chef was a skinny 40 year old man who always smelled of old sweat, stale bread and cheap cologne. She supposed most of that was due to his environment. And she couldn't complain, since she was seeking refuge in his kitchen. They rarely ever spoke, as he was part of the gloom of the entire place and spent most of the nights brooding as he made use of leftover food from the day to fix meals for the few customers they received at night.

She took a step away from the wall and turned to look at him as she replied, "I'm more worried about them leaving without breaking anything." _Like me_, she finished in her mind. He was sitting on a stool in front of the two stoves, and not for the first time Shizuru marvelled at how small the room was. The two small, rusting stoves took up an entire wall of the enclosed room and the ceiling was low. She had only been in here for five minutes but she could feel her shirt starting to stick to her back under her hoodie.

"Eh..." He waved off her comment as if it was a fly. "We've gotten pretty gud at fixin' the furn'ture these idiots break."

She quickly bit back the comment that sprouted to her mind. _Things that are repeatedly broken eventually become irreparable._ Not only was the comment rude in the face of his bleak joke, but it brought to mind the many times she'd ended up with broken and fractured bones. Would they, too, become irreparable?

That was when she heard the faint sound of the door creaking open and she let out a sigh at the prospect of another group of drunken fools. She heard a sudden burst of jeers and ruckus laughter and questioned whether it was from the first group or the new arrivals.

"You'd better ge' out there 'fore they start bangin' down the kitchen door. We can't 'ford for anything in 'ere to ge' damage."

She glared at him, but he wasn't looking at her, instead picking at the rust on the stove burner. Shizuru let out another sigh before opening the door that led out and ducking her head under the door jam. She looked around the diner, ignoring the whistles she got from the earlier group, which was still sitting at their table, their faces and necks red, and finally spotted the person who had entered sitting at a corner table, far from the group of men. She was secretly glad at that, she didn't want to be anywhere close to them, and wished they'd leave (and hopefully crash the pickup they arrived in into the deep, dry riverbed a few miles from here).

As she moved closer to the lone person sitting at the table, she noticed that it was a female, a beautiful one at that, dressed in a dark blue rider's jacket and jeans torn at the knees. Her raven hair was wind-tossed, and dark sunglasses covered her eyes as she sat slouched over on the table, her head propped up on her hand as she gazed out the window. What was she looking at? Rather, what could she look at with how dark it was?

The woman's nose twitched and she turned to look at Shizuru who made the final steps to her table, revealing her full profile. She looked like a girl... but she had to be at least 20... maybe 19.

"What can I get you?" Shizuru delivered the standard question without a smile and without warmth. It was not a tone she herself would have like to be served with, but this place didn't have the type of customers Shizuru wished to see again.

The woman turned to look back out the window, and Shizuru stood for a while before making to leave. If she wasn't going to order she would return to the safety of the kitchen.

"I'll have a chicken sandwich. Whole wheat, no vegetables."

She half turned to the source of the low, gruff voice and saw that the woman... girl, was still staring out the window. "I'll be back with your order." She was answered with a snort before she quickly made for the kitchen. One of the men stood up to address her, a large grin on his stubbled face, as he was encouraged by his friends. Shizuru side-stepped him and walked to the door. She heard the men laugh as the guy ordered his friends to "Shut it" and felt all eyes on her as she entered the kitchen and locked the door.

"Well?"

She half regarded the chef as she leaned against the door and took a deep breath to calm her nerves. That ... girl, unsettled her. "A chicken sandwich, no vegetables. Whole wheat."

He grunted and got to work.

Shizuru walked over to the wall she had previously looked through and again opened the small slit, looking towards the corner where the woman sat.

She was the same as she had left her, and Shizuru was reminded of a boy that was in her class at the school she used to attend; he was always gazing out the window during classes, but Shizuru had never been able to find what he was looking at. _Perhaps he wasn't looking at anything I could see. Perhaps he was looking into a world I could not enter_.

As she ended the thought the woman, turned and stared right at her. Shizuru stared back in shock for a few seconds, then rapidly closed the slit, holding a hand to her pounding chest. She was sweating, was it only because of the room?

Taking another deep breath, she turned her attention to the chef who was placing the reheated chicken on a whole wheat bun and covering it with the other half. He set it on the counter on the wall opposite the stove and took a glass from the sink, rinsing it quickly before filling it with water and placing it next to the plate. There was no ice.

She took the plate and glass as he set about washing his hands and slipped a fork on the plate before braving the diner again. _I will quit tonight_. She'd move on to the nearby town and past it, continuing north. The men were whispering to themselves as she walked past and Shizuru went to her hopefully last customer in this place and set the food down on the table.

She looked up to meet shaded eyes and schooled her face to stay as it was as her heart once again raced. Why was it that this _woman_ affected her so? Was she afraid of her? Why? And could she make up her mind if she were a woman or a girl? The way she held herself spoke of an understanding that came with age, and yet that understanding seemed trapped in an adolescent's body.

The girl's nose twitched, and despite her racing pulse, Shizuru started to find the act to be cute. But... how long had she been standing here? Certainly much longer than was necessary. She tried to move but found that she couldn't, the woman's gaze had her pinned. _What is she looking at? What does she see?_ She hoped it wasn't a threat. Shizuru would rather leave calmly, not in another mad dash for her life.

Then that gaze shifted and Shizuru found herself released. Choosing to escape while she still could she turned to leave, and instead found that the group of men from earlier were blocking her.

A sinking feeling settled in her stomach and she glared at the one directly in front of her. "Could you please move?"

He grinned at her and shrugged his shoulders. "Please? Hear that boys?" He laughed. "Now she knows manners after she so _rudely_ snubbed our friend." The other five around him made various sounds of agreement. He glared at her. "You really hurt his feelings."

This wasn't looking very good.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Lying's unbecoming of a lady."

"She probably ain't a lady! Looks nice and all in the face, but you can't make shit out of the crap she's wearing."

Shizuru glowered. The one she had labelled as leader looked thoughtful at the remark, which caused her to get angrier.

"You know..." he leered at her. "He's got a point there. Are you a pretty little boy underneath all those layers?"

She struggled to keep her voice even. "Please, _move_."

"Now that just sounded rude, _little boy_." His hand moved for her wrist, but Shizuru moved back and he missed. He started to follow after her when the woman behind Shizuru spoke.

"She said move, so move. You're ruining my meal."

"You stay out of this weirdo!" From the one who had attempted to approach Shizuru earlier, the one she had "snubbed". "Unless... let me guess... is this your little boyfriend? Do you get some kind of kick out of having him dress up like a girl, you sick fu-"

"Get your lapdog a muzzle before he starts frothing all over my food."

"What did you-?"

"And get him fixed while you're at it before he starts spreading disease." Shizuru watched as the woman pointed at the noticeable bulge in his pants and the man went red in the face.

"You-!"

This time it was the leader that interrupted him, laughing loudly. The others were laughing at his expense too, shoving him and rustling his hair. He shoved them off him and glowered at Shizuru's would be rescuer.

"You know what lady, I like you." The leader laughed again and Shizuru took another step backwards to stand next to where the woman was sitting, and she was definitely a woman now, but did she have any idea what she was doing? "I apologize for my friend here, he never was able to keep it in his pants. He's you know," he pointed a finger at his temple and made circles with it, "not all there." The others laughed again at their friend's expense. Shizuru spared a glance at the woman sitting beside her who finished her sandwich while they were laughing.

"That's nice. We're leaving."

She stood up and Shizuru puzzled at the "we're" before understanding. _She means me? She's taking me with her?_

But _could_ they leave? The group of men hadn't moved and the leader was grinning at them. The situation was only getting worse.

"Now wait a second. Maybe I could offer you two a drink to make up for it."

"No."

"I insist."

"I said no." The two were glaring at each other now.

She had to stop this. She didn't want to fight them, she'd lose! "I'm afraid we really must decline."

But he was ignoring her. The others were glaring now too, at both the woman and herself.

"When a man offers to get you something you smile sweet and say thank you." He stalked closer to the two of them, pushing his face inches from the woman's.

"What man? All I see are a bunch of idiots." She took it back, this was a girl, a foolish girl out to get herself killed.

Maybe she could...?

But the man spotted her attempt to retreat and grabbed the sleeve of her hoodie. At that moment the woman took up her empty plate and smashed it against his head. It had started.

She quietly cursed as she pulled her arm free and watched the woman punch the leader in the face. The other one, the one who had tried to hit on her, tried to tackle the woman along with two others, and the two left behind came after Shizuru. Why did she always end up in these situations?

She ducked under a swipe for her neck but failed to dodge the upper cut that was driven into her ribs right under her breasts. The blow left her breathless and stumbling back as the guy narrowly missed grabbing the front of her hoodie. But she had forgotten about the other man. And he tackled her to the floor. Her head hit the floor hard and she saw stars, what little air she managed to retain blew out of her lips as she landed. The guy straddled her and grabbed her bare neck before he started hitting her. He sent blow after blow at her left cheek, snapping her head to the side to hit the ground and catching it again as it bounced back.

She vaguely heard the sounds of the fight the other woman was caught in.

The punches got weaker with each blow, and started spacing out. The grip around her neck slacked. In a daze and acting only on instinct Shizuru pushed him off her and he fell pathetically to the side wheezing.

Taking time to catch her breath she turned slightly, ignoring the stinging pain in her face. She was surprised to find the other five men being easily thrown around by the other woman, who moved around their punches like water and countered with vicious kicks. What was she?

Not caring to stick around to find out she forced herself to her feet and headed for the exit. She would continue heading north. She'd go north into Canada before going west and crossing over into Russia. There were research facilities in Russia, places that could cure her. There were also places she could hide, and could get away with fully covering herself. If Russia couldn't fix what was wrong with her, it could give her a new start, a quiet start where no one would know her face from the police inquiries or Friends of Humanity hunts. But she had to get there. And to get there she had to live.

She was two steps from the door when her ribs spiked painfully and she was blindsided by a body colliding with her. She once again hit the floor painfully, her ribs crying out in heated protest along with her elbows, her head once again knocked the floor with precise accuracy to hit _the exact same spot_ as earlier. This of course, caused her battered face to throb in accompaniment and Shizuru was ready to just lie there and let them beat her right then because she wasn't going _anywhere_.

She opened her eyes to find the guy who had landed on her opening his. She made to push him off, but he caught her wrists and pushed her back down, sneering evilly. His nose was broken and his lip was split. The look was similar to that of a slobbering bull dog as it was growling, only the drool was red.

There were a few grunts and crashes from the other side of the diner and then a hand with three shining silver claws, speckled with blood, grabbed the back of the guys shirt. He let out a cry as he was pulled back off of her and then turned to the woman, using his arm to force her to let go of him as he stumbled away. Shizuru watched as the woman retracted her _claws_ and lifted a nearby chair.

"_We've gotten pretty gud at fixin' the furn'ture these idiots break."_

She swung the chair and it struck the man in his face. Shizuru watched with morbid fascination as the chair leg splintered and broke and the man was sent reeling, blood flying from his mouth and his new wound. Then he collapsed and the diner was suddenly quiet.

She had a few moments to look around at the broken tables and unconscious (dead?) bodies before the woman grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. Shizuru groaned, the sudden movement aggravating her probably bruised ribs.

"Come on."

She had no other option but to follow as her arm was tugged. The woman walked briskly, pushing the door hard enough for the hinges to scream protest as it swung open fully, and then trudged into the dark night air, pulling along a wincing Shizuru who stumbled slightly every few steps.

She tried to force out words. "Where...?"

"Somewhere. Shut up. You're in no condition to talk."

Her ribs emphasized that point with another sudden spike of pain.

They reached a bike which the woman instantly let go of her hand to straddle, starting the engine and turning on the headlights. Shizuru hesitated and tried to ask again.

"Where...? Who...?"

There was the creak of the door and Shizuru turned around in a panic to see the chef standing there with a shotgun aimed at her. He cocked it, and Shizuru felt herself pulled onto the bike which roared to life just as the first shot rang out. She winced at the sound and clutched tightly to the woman's jacket. They were off with a jerk and another shot rang out. Then they were down the road and soon out of firing range.

After a few minutes to assure herself that yes, she was still alive, and no, the pain was not from a gaping bullet wound, she pried her eyes open to look ahead. She was settled on the bike uncomfortably from her hasty mount and took the opportunity to make herself more comfortable as she leaned her head to the side slightly to avoid the woman's long blue hair trying to whip at her already hurting face.

On the run again.

She breathed out, wincing again at the pain and resting her forehead on the tense shoulder in front of her.

At least they were heading north.

* * *

**After Note:**

This actually isn't the completed thing, but I figured it has been sitting around in my computer gathering dust for long enough and this first part was enough to post on it's own.

'Mutants' is just one of (so far) two _Powers_ scenarios that I am working with. The _Powers_ series will include multiple oneshots featuring Shiznat with different supernatural abilities in different worlds/situations. It is completely AU. I'm regrettably unsure as to when I will add to it, but I will at least try to clean up and post what I already have written for this.

Last Note: I am aware that 'Mutants' bears some similarities to another fic called _X-HiME_ written by _drink'milk_. Whatever similarities you see here are where those similarities end. Whatever plot I may spin off this in the future should be strikingly different.

Thanks for reading.


	2. The League I

**The League**

**By: **_K-promises-fall._

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mai HiME or the Justice League... or any of the heroes and villains that might appear in this story.**

* * *

Begin

* * *

Natsuki felt overwhelmed with both awe and disappointment as she took her first tentative steps around the Watch Tower.

She was dressed in a simple white button-up shirt and dark grey capris. Her blue hair was in a high ponytail to keep most of it out of her face. She had no real doubts as to how presentable she looked, and had convinced herself earlier that she didn't much care even if she wasn't. Now however, she thought differently. She had never been so nervous in her life. She felt incredibly small and incredibly out of place. Around her were people similar to her. They all had some unique ability, supernormal or superhuman, that set them apart from the rest of the world. Natsuki was pretty sure that they all had lives similar to hers outside of the costume, and that those lives were probably very boring. She was pretty sure that they were regular boring people without their masks and façades.

But she couldn't very well see that now.

Everyone she saw was in costume. Everyone she saw had some mask to hide their true identity. And indeed she felt a bit like someone who had come to the ball of the year in muddy sneakers and a coffee stained t-shirt.

She felt... inferior. But... and her shoulders tensed at this thought, she'd just have to get over it.

They were similar yes, but they were also very different. For one thing, Natsuki was Japanese. And despite the league having a few marines and aliens running around the place, they had only just started to accept Japanese heroes into the league. To be fair, the league wasn't prejudiced at all in their choosing as far as she could see, but the Japanese villains and heroes tended to stay strictly in Japan and concern themselves only with Japanese matters. In the western world the stories of Japanese superheroes were told very rarely and as myths, and in Japan, western heroes were seen as trouble makers who needed to stop sticking their nose into everyone's business by everyone except the fangirls.

Natsuki blamed it on a booming Japanese economy and a lack of communication between countries.

But the streets of Japan had become suffocating. Crime was localized and the level of it very low comparative to other countries and cities, Gotham for example. But, unlike Gotham City, Japan was far from lacking in willing and able crime fighters. The country was full of tech heads and meta-humans trying to live out life like a manga or a western comic. It was getting too crowded for Natsuki to do her thing, which is why she was ecstatic and shocked when the League sent her an invitation to join. Natsuki didn't doubt that she was one of the first Japanese heroes to be present in the League.

And here she was in a sea of brightly arrayed powerful people, dressed boringly and unable to speak most of the languages that were being thrown about. What could she say? She had managed to scrape out a pass in English, but her French, Spanish, Latin, Russian, German and not to mention extra-terrestrial linguistic skills were pretty much below zero. Definitely below zero as she couldn't recognize half the languages she was hearing.

She was being shown around by what she presumed was an alien (who could tell when some of the costumes these people wore were made to look like they came from some alternate dimension?). And he spoke Japanese quite beautifully, but Natsuki wasn't really absorbing anything he was saying, too busy feeling like everyone in the room was watching her and arguing with herself that they weren't.

She was torn, obviously. Part of her was yelling at herself for not getting a decent costume, the other part (the majority) was screaming that she didn't need one. Beating up bad guys in an indiscernible biker suit was perfectly okay. What would she need a costume for anyway? She practically danced around light, leaving the barest of afterimages as she beat the snot out of whichever idiot was in her way. If the point is to not be recognised, why wear something that loudly proclaims exactly who you are? So she was being an idiot and beating herself up over nothing. She'd very much like to stop. She was giving herself a headache.

All the bright lighting in the place probably didn't help either. Natsuki swore as she was lead towards the "Asian Lounge" (yeah, right. That deserves to be scoffed at) that she couldn't find a single shadow in the place except behind closed doors. It was uncomfortable. She thrived in the cold and dark after all. _Summer child my-_

Oh, there was some guy dressed like a cat talking to her tour guide, he was huge. And he was definitely not Asian.

"Please wait here for a bit. I will return soon to show you to your room." And then the alien tour guide was gone.

Natsuki watched him follow after the _huge_ cat suit guy for a few seconds before turning around to find out that she was indeed being stared at, by two pairs of eyes.

"Umm... hi?" She hoped at least one of these guys knew Japanese. Her social skills were bad enough without a language barrier being thrown in the mix.

When they both responded in a mix of foreign sounds she couldn't help it; she squeaked. Thankfully, it was soft enough that it only looked like a wince to the two other persons in the room. They looked confused for a second before they both started laughing. Natsuki could feel her cheeks getting hot.

She glowered at the female who moved towards her and took in her appearance. She was tall, probably not that much taller than Natsuki, but her height was exaggerated by the large, dark red combat boots she wore – if you could call them combat boots, those heels looked deadly, in more ways than one. She was slender – lean perhaps – toned. She wore fingerless crimson gloves with white laces, a crimson corset, crimson leather tights that vanished into the boots, with a white utility belt hanging neatly on her hips. The belt seemed full, in fact, it had two storeys, housing gadgets Natsuki could only guess at. A gadget user, Natsuki guessed that she was merely supernormal, contrary to her own superhuman.

She switched her glare over to the male and was forced to blink. She went back to the woman. He could not be serious with that outfit. She meant no offence, but his outfit was just... no, just no. In fact, how could the woman stand and talk to him with a straight face as she had seemed to be doing when Natsuki just entered? Then again, there was that strange smile on her face. Maybe she actually had been laughing?

Before Natuski could question it any further the woman started speaking again. The look on her face must have showed her distress because the woman laughed lightly again and Natsuki's glare intensified. If they were going to make fun of her could they at least do it so she could know what they were saying?

As Natsuki glowered, the woman continued talking and flipped her light brown hair over her shoulder, taking out an ear bud and fixing it in Natsuki's ears. Natsuki's eyes widened. Whatever happened to personal space?

"…until you receive your own. But it might be slightly awkward to have only one."

The crimson woman smiled at her, and Natsuki took the time to notice that her eyes were the same colour as her clothes, obsessive much. But at least she could understand her now. And she was right, it was awkward. In one ear she heard near perfect Japanese and in the other she heard what was, to her, the equivalent of gibberish. It was strange.

"Th-thanks."

The smile she was given startled her a bit. She had never seen anyone smile so perfectly. In fact, she had never believed such a smile could be given. "You are welcome. I am Fujino Shizuru."

The strange woman held out her hand, and Natsuki, after a slight hesitation, took it and shook once. "Kuga Natsuki."

"Welcome to the League."

* * *

"So... You're a tech head?"

Shizuru chuckled softly. "That's one way to put it I suppose. You don't like us 'tech heads'?" And she tilted her head slightly to one side in inquiry. It was a pose Natsuki had grown to know for Shizuru's teasing. That said something, seeing as she'd only spoken to the other woman on two other occasions since their meeting.

"There were a bunch of them running around in Japan. They were annoying." And caused her grief with unnecessary damage to infrastructure and private property, for which she was blamed! "Come to think of it, I don't see how I couldn't have noticed it sooner. You've got the annoying bit pat down."

Shizuru pouted. Pouted! Like she was a baby. Natsuki felt her eyebrow twitch minutely. "_The Ghost_ is so mean... And after I went out of my way to be so nice to her when we first met."

She scoffed at that. "You go out of your way to be nice to practically everyone. You're like the Mistress of Etiquette."

And suddenly Shizuru was smiling again. "Then I must thank _The Ghost_ for the compliment."

"It wasn't-" but she gave up halfway through. Shizuru could probably go at this for days, but they had a mission to do and getting teased by Shizuru was tiring.

They were both dressed in their respective outfits. The only addition to Shizuru's being the throwing knives secured on her thigh, the strange rectangular box strapped to her left arm and the partial face mask with goggles through which her red eyes shined eerily. Natsuki was decked in her full black biker suit and helmet, complete with inside pockets full of lock picking devices. The story of those gadgets was interesting. Natsuki had been caught between all out gun battle in a civil gang war. Apparently some of the members had questions about the leadership that their boss wasn't willing to answer, and so the gang had gotten into a fight with itself during the middle of a major weapon smuggling operation. There had been twenty guys, all with just off the shelf military technology and all pretty trigger happy. Natsuki had gotten quite a few close shots and, okay maybe two holes in her precious biker suit as she tried to get out and leave the gang to kill themselves. She was about to make her escape when

"Natsuki? I'm in their system."

Shizuru was sitting in the chair and looking at her oddly and Natsuki had the decency to feel a bit embarrassed.

Long story short, Natsuki had needed a door open and would have gotten killed if some random goon hadn't been thrown out a window to make an escape point for her. She cleared her throat and Shizuru merely raised an amused eyebrow before going back to getting what they needed. While Shizuru, typed away Natsuki glanced at the small security monitor next to the computer screen to see a guard come upon one of the workers she had knocked unconscious earlier, perhaps she should have hidden him better. Oops. She hoped no one from the league was watching this to assess her or anything. She'd have lost quite a few points by now if they were. She watched as the guard spoke something into his walkie-talkie and left the room.

"We'll have company soon."

"Then," Shizuru clicked a few more buttons and the screen went dark as she pulled the data disk from the port. "I'm afraid we'll have to decline any invitations to stay." She stood up and pocketed the disk in her belt as Natsuki smirked.

"Even if they have tea?"

Shizuru let out a sigh that was full of regret. "Sad to say. But we already have plans." Natsuki blinked. Shizuru's disappointment sounded natural. She was kidding right? "_The Ghost_ is going to take me to dine and dance."

"Since when?" Natsuki sent a quick look down the corridor then back to the few security monitors in the room. This place had more guards than she had initially thought. "And stop calling me that." They probably couldn't get out the same way they had gotten in.

"But _Ghost_ that is your name isn't it?"

Natsuki scowled as Shizuru slipped out the door into the (_for now)_ empty corridor. She was enjoying Natsuki's codename a _bit_ too much. "It's just a name that stuck because some idiot bank robbers thought I was some vengeful spirit out to get them for something stupid." She was whispering through her teeth, but her annoyance was evident, and she was sure Shizuru was soaking it all up with that same annoying, amused smile. "It's not funny."

"Oh, but it is," Shizuru whispered back. And yes, she was very much amused, Natsuki could hear it in the tone of her voice. "I think it very much suits you, _Ghost_."

They came to an intersection in the corridors and Natsuki stealthily checked all of them before going right. She didn't look behind to see if Shizuru was following. She didn't have to. Sneaking through potential death traps was Natsuki's speciality. "I doubt your name is much better."

"Well, it does seem that whenever villains are easily subdued they comfort themselves by trying to convince others that it was a paranormal entity."

Natsuki froze, then slowly turned her head to look at the crimson woman sneaking along behind her. Shizuru's gaze was fixated directly ahead and refused to meet Natsuki's eyes. Oh, this was just too good to pass up. "Paranormal? And here I thought they would liken you to a god."

"Goddess," she corrected. "And it would have been much preferred, even flattering."

"I don't think your ego needs anymore stroking."

"On the contrary, I'm quite humble."

Natsuki finally continued moving and came to a bend. She chanced a quick peek and saw it led to a staircase and then quickly pulled her head back to avoid the dozen or so bullets that came whizzing at her. Too close. "Right, you're humble and those guys only want to give us the grand tour."

"I preferred it when they were offering tea." Natsuki smirked in response. "Does The Ghost require assistance?"

"It's just five of them, and they're guarding the exit, probably radioing the others to provide backup. I could take them, but the lighting is bad."

"Lighting?" Shizuru's expression was puzzled before she finally understood. "Ah! I should be able to fix that." Then she reached into her utility belt and pulled out a small metallic ball. Natsuki watched with raised eyebrows as Shizuru whispered something to it and then gently placed it on the ground. Her eyes widened in shock when it sprouted legs and scrambled away from them down the hall.

"What the hell?"

"Whoever it is come out with your hands in the air!" Oh right, guards. Five of them with more on the way. She sighed. She already hated her job.

"I believe we should move ahead if we do not wish to get caught." She really hated her job. "I should hope Natsuki's eyesight isn't _too_ impaired."

What? Shizuru winked at her before diving past her into a roll and subsequent flip. Natsuki cursed and followed after. Woman was damn impatient. Natsuki's after image trailed after her as she moved and shifted making solid appearing copies of her that were vanished milliseconds after formed by rapid firing bullets. Two of Shizuru's throwing knives sailed after her as she moved and she watched as one cut the gun a guard was trying to reload in two by the barrel (what kind of knife _is_ that?!) while the other buried itself in another guard's hand, causing him to drop the gun and cry out in pain. One down.

She was readying herself for a final leap off the ceiling towards a guard who looked too happy to be firing bullets wildly when the lights went off. The smirk was instantaneous, though no one could see it. Now she was in business. Six seconds later all the guards were unconscious, one of them in so much pain that they were still groaning. Natsuki grinned and breathed in an easy win. She heard Shizuru descend the final steps to come to a stop beside her and briefly wondered how Shizuru could see in the near pitch black room. But then remembered that Shizuru was a techi. Her goggles probably had a night vision setting or something.

"Got your toy back?"

Shizuru nodded, Natsuki could barely pick up the movement. "Shall we go?" She made a gesture with her hand and they both walked towards the glass doors leading to a finished mission.

"And you still haven't told me your moniker yet. I'll learn it sooner or later, when I start asking around."

"I heard that the Ghost has horrible table talk and has less social tendencies than a wall."

"Don't believe everything you hear, my mother used to say."

"You make a valid point."

"Just tell me! It can't be that bad!"

They were at the beam up site now, but both refrained from contacting J'onn just yet. The look on Shizuru's face was unreadable, but Natsuki stared back at her. She would find out sooner or later, so holding out would be pointless.

Shizuru realized this too and sighed. "Well... on my first mission I was to foil an attempted kidnapping. Unfortunately they managed to get away on a speed boat while I ended up swimming to shore. It was a bit embarrassing to have failed so completely, so the next time I was prepared and snuck into their hideout. When I got there the kidnapped boy was tied up, gagged and badly beaten. I lost my temper for a moment..." Natsuki noticed the guilty look in Shizuru's eyes at the confession.

"Did you know him?"

"...Quite well." Well that explained it. "When the police arrived to apprehend them and the media were taking pictures of the caught kidnappers, one of them screamed that I was a devil... a... red- eyed devil. Regrettably the name stuck and before I knew it, I was referred to as the Red Eye Devil in most of the newspapers in my region."

There was silence as Natsuki contemplated this. Then she burst out laughing. "R.E.D? Your great hero name is R.E.D?" She was laughing too hard and had to clutch her side where a few bullets had grazed. She could feel Shizuru glaring at her and barely heard her call for transport.

When the teleport to the base was complete Natsuki was still laughing, garnering a few puzzled looks as she walked toward her room. A fuming Shizuru in tow.

* * *

Natsuki was bored.

Correction, Natsuki was very, very bored.

Okay, Natsuki was _extremely_ bored and very, very uncomfortable.

She couldn't believe she had agreed to this. What was she thinking? Saying yes to _Shizuru_? That crazy woman who lived to tease her to the grave? She couldn't stop berating herself for being so stupid.

Natsuki was wearing heels. Yes, they were very nice looking heels that she wouldn't have minded much, except for the fact that she was _wearing _them. To add insult to injury she was also wearing a dress. It, like the heels, was very much a nice dress – it was, in fact extremely nice – and hugged Natsuki's every womanly curve like a wave, with a dangerously high slit, and dangerously low cut back, and all in the most wonderful shade of navy blue that glowed in the light of the ballroom. So yes, Natsuki was very much dressed to kill (in a manner much different from usual). Except she was at a ball! A formal ball, full of rich snobs that had enough money to buy easy lifestyles. There might have been a few people among the crowd she would have actually respected, but this was _India_ and she was _Japanese_. The music floating through the stereos to her sounded strange. And despite it being an "International Gathering" most of the people present were, guess what, _INDIAN_.

It was very much like her very first day at the Justice League. Except she could understand the random conversations she managed to catch wind of from her lonely spot close to the wall, far far from the buffet table.

Shizuru was off somewhere mingling and being stared after with lustful gazes she had seemed quite content with receiving. Natsuki herself had been annoyed by it. Couldn't people learn a little thing called self control, or better yet, _buy some with their ridiculous amounts of money_? Of course her first post when Shizuru had left was beside the buffet table. But Natsuki had quickly learned from her error and relocated when people started trying to engage her in conversations about what who was wearing and the current political climate and economic relations with blah, blah, blah...

Definitely learned her lesson.

But she was getting ahead of herself.

Naturally, the question comes to mind. What is Natsuki doing at a ball in _India_? Yes, yes it does have something to do with Shizuru. It's pretty obvious isn't it? With no missions from the League in a month, and not really feeling like competing with the idiots back home for a chance at the bad guys, Natsuki had been eager to say yes when Shizuru asked if she would like to help her on a personal assignment. She hadn't openly showed it, but she had been eager enough to say yes without asking what it was. Big mistake, as one can see.

She made a feeble attempt to find Shizuru amongst the sea of bright flowing colours and was unsuccessful. She stopped herself from sighing. Would anything interesting happen anytime soon? She didn't think so. She could remember those first words she and Shizuru had exchanged when walking through the grand entrance.

_"So what should I look out for?"_

_The lights inside were too bright, she thought. She glanced at Shizuru in the corner of her eye and nearly stumbled in surprise at meeting her gaze head on. Shizuru's expression screamed that she was up to something. "Look out for?"_

_Natsuki's eyes narrowed. "Unless you want me to be completely unprepared."_

_She was rewarded with a light chuckle that caused her eyes to narrow further. "That is true. Very well." Shizuru lifted an elegant hand with a fancy and very beautiful gold band and motioned vaguely to a group close to the front of the hall in light conversation. "Natsuki would do well to stay away from the Agnihotri."_

_"Why?"_

_"Natsuki prefers the cold and dark, yes? The Agnihotri are followers of Agni, the god of fire. I simply assume that the Ice Princess would prefer to stay away for her enemy element."_

_Natsuki glared at her. "Ha ha."_

_"Yes it was quite humorous of me."_

_"Why am I here, Shizuru?"_

_"Why?" She pretended to think seriously on the question and held the expression before another smile broke out on her face. "Because Natsuki is cute, and one can never be seen attending such functions alone."_

_What? "I'm an arm accessory?!" She stopped and watched Shizuru move a little farther ahead._

_Shizuru continued walking but did look back at her. "Of course not. Natsuki is merely my date."_

_That was, in a way worse. "Date?!" She felt her cheeks grow hot as she was shot a few cursory glances and walked a little faster to resume her position at Shizuru's side._

_She saw Shizuru give her another brief look. And felt her cheeks grow warmer at the widening smile._

_"That's exactly what I meant when I said you were cute."_

She should have followed her gut instinct and left right then. But no. For some strange reason, whenever she told Shizuru "no" she ended up doing whatever it was anyway. Natsuki pressed herself closer to the wall and crossed her arms. Inside this place was too crowded. It didn't matter that the closest person was a good twenty feet away; she could feel their eyes on her and that was bad enough, and where the hell had Shizuru gone off to?!

"Natsuki?" Oh. There she was. Dressed in some fancy Indian dress that Natsuki couldn't properly name (and so would not try to), and carrying two glasses of what she hoped was something alcoholic and not some strange Indian mixture that was special to their culture or whatever. "It took me a while to find you." She handed a glass over to Natsuki and Natsuki took a tentative sip before letting out a sigh of relief. Alcohol was universal.

"There were too many people over there," was her all-telling explanation. She idly twirled the glass before taking another sip. "What are you drinking?"

"Iced tea..."

She sighed. "Really, Shizuru?"

Another of Shizuru's smiles. "Mostly."

"Mostly?"

Now would be a good time to recap an interesting fact that Natsuki had learned about Shizuru during these past two or so months.

The topic?

Smiles.

Shizuru tended to smile a lot. She had the strangest ability of being able to smile in almost any situation. Generally though, her smiles could be labelled under two general categories. "Natsuki" and "Not Natsuki".

Labelling Shizuru's smiles by her name came off as arrogant, yes, but it held a sliver of truth to it. A more proper labelling might have been "Friend" and "Not Friend", only, telling who Shizuru considered a friend and who she considered a mere acquaintance was nigh impossible. As far as Natsuki had seen, Shizuru had no "friends" in the League aside from her. Then again, perhaps Natsuki was just special and there should actually be three categories. "Teasing Natsuki", "Friend" and "Not Friend"?

No, that sounded stupid.

For simplicity's sake she'd stick to "Natsuki" and "Not Natsuki", and... okay, it made her feel special so sue her.

Both categories could be divided into similar subcategories of "Teasing", "Flirty", "Relaxed" and "Mischievous". But only under the "Natsuki" category would you be able to find one that was "Truly Sincere". Natsuki didn't know why that was, but she appreciated it and reciprocated the gesture, usually unknowingly, in her own actions.

How Shizuru teased Natsuki was different from how she teased everyone else.

How she flirted with Natsuki was different from how she flirted with everyone else.

How she allowed herself to relax around Natsuki was different from how she relaxed around everyone else.

And the mischievous twinkle in her eyes always shined a bit more brightly, as if she wasn't holding anything back.

It was almost as if she

"Shizuru?"

"Hmm?" She looked up at Natsuki briefly while taking a sip of her... tea?

"Next time... I get to choose the venue for our date."

"Is Natsuki asking me out?"

She scoffed. "Of course not. I meant as friends. As if I'd lower myself to dating you."

Shizuru's laughs were different around her too. A little less practiced.

"Sometimes Natsuki is so mean. I don't even know why I bother to try."

She took a sip of the drink Shizuru had brought for her before moving away from the wall. She was ready to leave.

"It's because I'm cute."

Light laughter followed after her, "Indeed. Even more cute from behind."

For the second time that night she nearly stumbled. "Shizuru!"

* * *

End

* * *

**Special Note: **_That brief conversation during the flashback where Shizuru jokes about Natsuki and the Agnihotri came about with random research as I searched for an Indian last name which I could use. Please take note that this information was taken from Wikipedia and then expanded upon from my imagination, so I cannot in good faith claim that it is anything close to accurate. The only thing I am sure about is that 'Agni' is the god of fire for a religion centred somewhere in Asia._

* * *

**Author's Note:**

The wonders of a pointless Mai HiME oneshot.

I do fear that there was not even a single set goal for this as it ended quite unresolved, didn't it? Not to mention we only got to see a hint of what their powers actually are. I need to stop this scatterbrained style of writing I've developed and write an actual story, wouldn't you agree? Lol. Oh well, perhaps I'll just do a second oneshot in relation to this and turn it into a little miniseries. XD Wouldn't that be nice?

The pairing is (obviously) Shiznat. And the Justice League setting is based off of the Justice League Unlimited cartoon (regrettably I have not read the comics, though it seems to be a very confusing timeline. I've been informed there were about 4 different green lanterns and a few resurrections here and there amongst the different characters. ...And Starfire?)

The timeline can be placed as starting directly after Season 2, Episode 35 entitled "Grudge Match". It may be perceived that the reason Natsuki has not received a communicator of her own at the very start is that the device that caused the female League members to be controlled and made to fight by Roulette is still in the process of being removed and replaced. Shizuru being a "tech-head" would have her own personal communicators and it is one of these which she lends Natsuki.

I also had a bit of fun with the language barrier among the League members. I always wondered, "How do all the League members communicate if they're from different countries? Do they like, divide them into groups or something based on the language they speak, or what?" Hence the "Asian Lounge". Merely me poking fun.

Now for the obvious question.

WHY THE HELL IS SHIZURU INDIAN?!

Lol. Well, there's a perfectly logical explanation for that.

... I was... typing... and I went on Google translator and chose a random language. And I saw Hindi there and was like... "Oh, cool!" so I kind of clicked that. I didn't really want her being Thai. But just imagine Shizuru dressed in Indian garb like a pretty dancer with the beads on her forehead and everything! (Lol, that made me sound like a dunce.)

So as you can see I had no plan in mind for this fanfic apart from "Shizuru and Natsuki in the Justice League. LOL" and this is the end result.

I hope you all found at least ONE thing in it that you liked.

Until the next **_Powers_ **special.

Later.

~_K-promises-fall_.

P.S. Did some brief editing of this. This was actually finished some time ago but I had to make some changes to the starting dialogue and it took me a while because I felt lazy working on a finished fic. Finally forced myself to get it done, but I'm afraid the laziness of the fix might show through. Anyway, I'm tired enough of sitting on this, so I'm posting it anyway and if anything, I'll come back to it later when I'm more motivated.


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